October and November 2011
Where is the time going?
Where is the time going? As we write to you, we are so aware that the end of the year (mainly Christmas) is upon us and we are about to celebrate the annual anniversary conference here in Honduras. Yet we see this as a real cause for celebration as we look back and reflect not just on these last two months but also a great year of blessings. For starters we are so thankful to Elim and supporters for sorting our car out and we have been back on the road again after a new motor and several tweaks and a brand new battery. So thank you for all your prayers.
We had some wonderful Project Josephs these last 2 months, but admittedly on a smaller scale after the Day of the Child in September. It seemed almost calm looking after only 80 and 90 kids at each church. But the fun and games never stop and the kids are already wondering what December will bring. We have had a new family with 6 girls recently start attending the project and at the end of October they started attending the Sunday services to come to the children's ministry. It’s such a joy to see them making the connection with the church, especially as they are one of the poorer families we know. We realised the kids were only eating half of their portions of food to take some home. So we explained if they ate up all their food then we could give them a bit more to take home after. This was obviously a relief to them and they have started turning up on random occasions to see if the church has a cooking activity on, which it often does.
We had quite a few birthday parties to go to in October, but see the photo of our little friend with his smurf buddy, it made us laugh so we had to share it with you. Piñatas as big as the children are definitely the way forward! It’s such a joy to be a part of the personal life of the church community and see it expanding. Recently the attendance at the downstairs church has grown by about 10 and with all the kids we have attending we may have to invest in some new chairs.
We have been working on training with the leadership in both churches and spending extra time training up the youth workers. We are having some amazing classes with them and really getting a lot out of seeing them grow. The notice board made by John (and the help of the team that visited in the summer) has really helped the members here realise they are part of something much bigger in Elim, that there are churches all over the UK supporting them and how international the family of Elim is. It has been so encouraging to them.
We've had some extra special nights with the teens recently (although no one remembered to take a single pic) and after a night focused on creative prayer, one of the teenage boys came up to us and said thank you because he really enjoyed himself. It was the first time he has ever sought us out to talk and was really encouraging to hear from him. Please remember these young people especially at this time of year, when many will face issues from the gangs around when going to Christmas parties (we have had a few awful incidents just recently). Last week a large group of our young men were set upon by gang members on the way to our youth service. It has unnerved them and as a result a few of them did not come to the following youth night. We also had an attack on one of our teenage girls at around 3pm in the afternoon, which feels worse as it was in broad daylight. She made an official report, but nothing has been achieved here as of yet. Please pray for her, to feel safe and secure again and to not give in to her fears.
Finally we are going through a time of completing projects in our ‘mission to ministry’ work out here. As each piece is finished it brings us closer and closer to making some big personal decisions. We feel our work in Central and South America is nowhere near done, but in these next few months we will be confirming new plans and sharing what we think the future holds. Please pray for provision, guidance and completion in our decision making and for our personal supporters to join with us as we start looking into the next phase of our work.
Thank you all for sharing with us and being a part of our work, we are so grateful for you!
God Bless, Love
John and Rachel
All gifts towards our ministry in Honduras should be designated for the ‘McDonoughs’ and sent to Elim International Missions, Elim International Centre, De Walden Road, West Malvern, WR14 4DF, England (cheques payable to Elim International Missions). Thank you.
If you would like to make regular gifts towards our support contact missions@elimhq.net
Charity nos 251549 / SC037754.